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Crimea and Sevastopol

Border guards detain vessel flying Cambodia flag near Crimean coast — FSB

The vessel violated the regime of the state border of Russia, that is, deviated from the recommended course and dropped anchor on roads in the village of Chernomorskoye without permission

SIMFEROPOL, January 5. /TASS/. The Don escort vessel of the Russian Federal Security Service’s (FSB) Crimean Border Department has detained a dry cargo ship flying the flag of Cambodia in Russia’s territorial waters in the Black Sea.

"The vessel violated the regime of the state border of the Russian Federation, that is, deviated from the recommended course and dropped anchor on roads in the village of Chernomorskoye without permission of the port services," the department said.

According to the FSB, the incident occurred January 3. The vessel’s captain, a Ukrainian national born in 1970, has been brought to administrative account under the article "Violation of the Russian Federation’s state border regime." The ship’s owner faces a fine of up to 50,000 rubles ($681).

The St. George vessel’s home port is Phnom Penh, it was bound from Rostov-on-Don to Varna. On the evening of the same day, the dry cargo ship was deported from Russia’s territorial waters, the department said.

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18, 2014.

Despite Moscow’s repeated statements that the Crimean referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize the legality of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

Work to integrate the Crimean Peninsula into Russia’s economic, financial, credit, legal, state power, military conscription and infrastructure systems has been actively underway since Crimea acceded to the Russian Federation.

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Foreign policy Crimea and Sevastopol

Military operation in Ukraine

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